Coordination with other healthcare professionals at BCCH, and other programs

Children, their families, and health-care professionals work together to make decisions regarding treatment and care options.

Palliative care treatments can be provided simultaneously with curative therapies and throughout a child's life.

Symptom management

Symptom management is active care aimed at reducing the adverse physical and emotional symptoms of the child's illness and/or side effects from treatments.

Symptom management throughout the child’s illness sometimes requires advanced interventions, as well as psychosocial support. The team uses pharmacological (i.e. medications) and non-pharmacological interventions (i.e. expressive therapies) to modify pain and other symptoms.

Canuck Place provides advanced symptom management and palliative care services to BC Children's Hospital through consultation, collaboration and care delivery. Services can be provided in the community, by telephone, inpatient at BC Children's Hospital, and/or inpatient at Canuck Place.

About us

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The Advanced Symptom and Palliative Care Service consists of physicians, nurses, counsellors and other healthcare professionals from Canuck Place Children's Hospice with specialized skills in symptom management and palliative care.

Canuck Place is the provincial pediatric palliative care program. We support children and their families living with life-threatening conditions any time from birth and transition to adult care, as well as the healthcare professionals caring for them. This support may include hospice stays, consultations at BC Children's hospital and telephone support.

Diseases that can sometimes be cured, but the curative treatment is not working.

Diseases that have no cure yet, and all treatment is symptomatic. These include conditions where the child is not likely to live into full adulthood, at the age when most people are independent (usually in their 20’s)

Consultations

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Nursing care

Consultation is available during regular office hours. Please call 604-742-3478 to speak to a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nurse Practitioner or to set up a Madison Clinic appointment.

Physician care

Consultation is available 24 hours/day. Please call paging at 604-875-2161 and ask to page the palliative care physician on call.

Counselling, psychosocial or bereavement care

Consultation is available during regular office hours. Please call 604-731-4847 and ask to speak with the counseling/bereavement coordinator.

Canuck Place

Canuck Place is available 24 hours a day. Phone: 604-731-4847 ext. 4231 or 4232 for the nursing station (referred to as the "kids counter").